Four months and
counting until the
AOM Reunion. Check
the latest details
at the Reunion
web site.

CECIL MARTIN'S
G'DAUGHTER MAKES ASA

Our Granddaughter
Casey, playing in
the Oklahoma City
Hall of Fame
tournament after
winning in Ft.
Worth. If they do
well (I think in the
top 8) they will
have a berth in the
ASA 14U (14 and
Under) Nationals in
San Diego at the end
of July. The Bombers
are from Pearland,
just south of
Houston. 'For the
fallen' has our
military member who
gave his life and
city and state with
camo sleeves. All
are different names.

Some of our
youngsters give me
hope for the
future!! --Cecil

ROSS MADDOCKS HAS
SURGERY AT VA

Kathleen Maddocks sends
this:

Ross had a knee
replacement at the VA
hospital in Boston on
the 15th of May. The
surgery went well but he
was in a lot of pain. He
had it done at the VA in
West Roxbury, Mass. Ross
was discharged on the
19th of May he has
physical therapy three
times a week at home.

Friends and shipmates
may send a card or call
Ross at:

Ross Maddocks

PO, Box 582

Boothbay Harbor,
ME 04538
Phone# 207-633-4431

SEAL BEACH VLS QRT TEAM
DEPENDS ON MINEMEN

Mineman (MN), the one
true "renaissance rate"
in the Navy. For years,
Minemen have been in the
shadow of the
predominant surface
rates and even
threatened with the
possibility of
force-conversion and
disbandment. Commonly
known for their
multi-faceted abilities
to perform the duties of
multiple rates at sea,
such as STG, OS, QM, GM,
BM, and ETs, Minemen can
now add another bullet
to their resume...
Missile Defense. Minemen
are now part of the
Vertical Launch System
Quick Response Team or
"VLS QRT" for short, at
Navy Munitions Command
(NMC) CONUS West
Division Unit Seal
Beach, California.

NMC Unit Seal Beach was
directed to stand up a
VLS QRT in May 2012.
Originally 10 members,
including Minemen and
Gunners Mates were hand
selected to establish
the inaugural program
for NMC CONUS West
Division. The team
completed the required
courses and
certification, each
member dedicating over
300 hours to Online,
Containerized
Explosives, Tomahawk
Receipt Inspection, and
Ordnance Handling
courses, along with each
member logging over
one-thousand hours of On
the Job Training loading
and off-loading various
VLS-operational war
ships. The team was
certified by NAVSEA and
deemed operationally
capable. The team has
grown in size to over
twenty members all of
which have been
certified and ready to
deploy at a moment's
notice.

In January 2014, NMC
Unit Seal Beach's VLS
QRT was tasked to
provide its handling
expertise to load an
SM-3 Missile into
Pacific Missile Range
Facility's AEGIS ASHORE
Launcher in Kauai, HI in
May 2014. This was to be
the first live
load/launch of an SM-3
for the Missile Defense
Agency Aegis Ashore
(MDA/AA) program in
support of the
presidentially mandated
European Phase Adaptive
Approach for the
Ballistic Missile
Defense of Europe. An
entire VLS QRT "mobile"
Standard Operating
Procedure was created by
team members and
approved by both Unit
Seal Beach and PMRF
specifically for this
event. Mr. Steve Reith
with MDA/AA stated "The
SOP your team developed
and executed will be the
baseline for all further
loading of launchers
supporting the Aegis
Ashore project."

A small team consisting
of the Safety Officer
and Rigger-in-charge
traveled to the Missile
Range Facility in April
2014 to tour the
facilities and get a
firm grasp of the
tasking prior to the
team's arrival only a
few short weeks later.

Fast forward to 12 MAY
2014: a hand-picked team
of 6 members led by
Mineman Senior Chief
Shane Caver, and Mineman
First Classes Duncan
Ellson and Jeremy Frick
boarded a plane, tools
and publications in
hand, and departed for
Kauai, HI. Upon the
team's arrival the
timeline of events
started immediately.
Multiple conferences and
administrative reviews
with Pacific Missile
Range Facility, Missile
Defense Agency, AEGIS
ASHORE, Lockheed Martin,
and SM-3 Fleet Liaisons
took place in the
following days leading
up to the load. Tours
of the facilities,
Ordnance Handling
Equipment Inspections,
and regular step-by-step
walk through of all
procedures were a normal
occurrence during the
week.

15 MAY 2014: The sky is
still dark as the team
arrives on-site at 0500
to begin its Foreign
Object Debris (FOD) walk
down. Pre-use checks
begin on all Ordnance
Handling Equipment and
tools are inventoried
for the final time prior
to load. The missile
arrives from the
magazine around 0630 and
the QRT begins their
Receipt Inspection under
the close eye of the
SM-3 Liaisons and
Missile Defense Agency.
Once the photo-ops and
interviews have
concluded the QRT begins
their loading
procedures. Handling the
9.6 Million Dollar
missile meticulously and
fluidly, the team loads
the AEGIS ASHORE Based
Launcher at 0721.
Umbilical connections
are made, missile
communication is
established, and the
team departs the
launcher by 0800.

Unit Seal Beach VLQ QRT,
composed entirely of
Minemen had just
established a new facet
of "renaissance"
capabilities which had
never been demonstrated
by this small
underappreciated rate.
The team departed
Pacific Missile Range
Facility on 16 May
having proven themselves
consummate professionals
with a return invite for
the next MDA/AA event at
PMRF in the summer of
2015.

A fellow Mineman and
compatriot has
experienced a rather
tragic family
situation. Ed
Szczutkowski
<Navymomag@yahoo.com>
has shared with me the
details that he has
chosen not to share
publicly. Nevertheless,
the situation is giving
grief to the family in
ways that I know has
laid the family low. I
know that you would like
to express your
condolences and stand
behind him in unspoken
ways. He has asked that
cards of concern be sent
to his son-in-law, Jeff
Davis
<jdavis@fuscoe.com> at 15 Larchwood,
Irvine, CA 92602.

I'm sure that we have
all had times in our
life where we needed
friends and family to
stand behind us, even
when they didn't know
the whole story of our
struggle. The details of
this sad incident are
not as important as
knowing that friends and
fellow Minemen and their
families support Ed and
Jeff with thoughts and
prayers, as well as
cards and e-mails.